Films from the Future: Moviegoer’s Guide to Tomorrow – Episode 48

Films from the Future: How Sci-Fi Movies Shape the Way We See Tomorrow

Why do movies like Jurassic Park, Minority Report, or Ex Machina stay with us long after the credits roll? It’s not just the dinosaurs, futuristic tech, or special effects — it’s because these films reflect back to us the deeper questions of what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world.

In our latest Modem Futura episode, Andrew Maynard and I revisit his book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies and the class it inspired, The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future. The central idea? Films are not only entertainment — they’re cultural tools that help us grapple with profound questions about technology, ethics, and identity.

Take Never Let Me Go, a haunting exploration of cloning and the value of life itself. Or Minority Report, which foreshadowed today’s debates over predictive policing and surveillance technologies. Ex Machina pushes us to consider how easily humans can be manipulated by AI that learns our cognitive biases. And Elysium asks us to confront inequality in access to innovation, healthcare, and privilege. Even Contact, Carl Sagan’s love letter to science, brings us face-to-face with the tension between faith, science, and the human search for meaning.

What makes these films powerful isn’t scientific accuracy — it’s storytelling. Stories give us a playground for exploring possible futures. They allow us to ask “what if?” and to examine how technological choices shape human lives, for better and for worse. And when these stories are shared communally — in theaters, classrooms, or even podcasts like ours — they become catalysts for conversations that spill over into dinner tables, workplaces, and beyond.

For us, this is the heart of futures thinking. By examining the stories we tell, we can better understand the world we’re building, and perhaps make wiser choices about where we’re headed.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to dive deeper into how films shape our futures: https://apple.co/3VHmkka

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

🎬 What film has changed the way you think about the future? Drop a comment — we’d love to hear.

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3VHmkka

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cpIyNfnbveNmKC4eh4dV6?si=NiwZzFYNR5-fVrr0jgoNvg

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/YHR1xEG4kAo

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

Show Me the Receipts: the Futures of AI Super-intelligence – Episode 44

Superintelligence “In Sight”? Cutting Through Hype to Keep Humans in the Loop

If you’ve felt whiplash from this summer’s AI headlines, you’re not alone. In our latest episode of Modem Futura, we unpack Big Tech’s bolder‑than‑bold claim that “developing superintelligence is now in sight”—and ask for something simple before we all sprint into the future: receipts. We break down what companies are signaling when they talk about AI systems that “improve themselves,” why that sounds momentous, and where the marketing ends and the evidence begins.

First, definitions that matter. Today’s tools remain narrow—powerful, yes, but specialized. AGI is the hypothetical jump to general capability; superintelligence (ASI) is the further leap beyond any human capability. We explore why those terms are often moved like goalposts, and why declaring ASI “near” without a stable definition confuses the public, policymakers, and practitioners alike, and from my perspective is irresponsible.

Then we zoom into a practical pain point: reliability. When platforms silently change models, tools, or defaults, workflows break (hello GPT-5). In education and professional settings, that unpredictability isn’t just irritating—it’s costly. We share real examples (from transcripts labeled with the wrong speakers to model behavior shifting overnight) and discuss what “enterprise‑grade” should mean for LLMs people depend on.

We also play with the upside—digital twins and imaginative design. If a campus has a high‑fidelity digital twin, why stop at mirroring reality? Why not prototype preferable futures—safer, more inclusive, more sustainable spaces—and test them before we build? Of course, reliability matters there too; when operational systems depend on simulations, unintended tweaks can ripple into the real world.

Across the hour, we push back on technological solutionism—the reflex to cast AI as the single answer to complex, “wicked” problems. Yes, we’re excited about AI’s potential; no, it won’t magically resolve conflict, poverty, or disease without broader social, economic, and political work. Framing ASI as our only lifeboat risks narrowing our imaginations right when we need them most.

Ultimately, we return to our favorite question: What does it mean to be human when machines can emulate so much of what we do? For us, that means staying curious and critical, inviting more diverse perspectives into the conversation, and insisting on transparent claims we can evaluate—before ceding agency to systems we don’t fully understand.

If this episode gave you a useful lens on the AI noise, share it with a colleague, drop a comment with the boldest AI claim you’ve heard and the evidence that would convince you, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/41Ayf6J

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/41Ayf6J

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0o1vePcG8wh2VmMtETRKjy?si=Fu0xyDEkSHKB-R3gkKKWoQ

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/XO9dLoYhIvY

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

Machines That Bleed: Inside the Future World of Bio‑Hybrid Robotics – Episode 43

Why Bio‑Hybrid Robotics Will Reshape Our Relationship with Technology

What if tomorrow’s rescue drone flapped real muscle, sniffed chemicals with a moth’s antenna, and healed itself like living tissue? This isn’t science fiction—it’s the fast‑emerging world of bio‑hybrid robotics, where biological systems and engineered hardware merge to create devices that are simultaneously alive and machine. In the latest episode ofModem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with Sean Dudley (Associate Vice President, ASU Knowledge Enterprise) to map this fascinating frontier.

Bio‑hybrid robots could transform minimally invasive surgery, disaster‑zone reconnaissance, and environmental stewardship. Yet they also force us to rethink what counts as life and who (or what) deserves care.

Throughout the conversation Sean D. walks us through the four pillars of bio-hybrid robotics. Briefly outlined here, but to get the full sense of wonder (or ick factor) you'll need to watch or listen to the full episode – oh, and just be warned you'll probably be thinking about this for the rest of the week.

Four Pillars of a Living Machine Future

1. Micro‑Robots Powered by Microbes
. Imagine algae‑propelled drug‑delivery bots navigating the bloodstream. Dudley explains how harnessing microbial metabolism can eliminate the need for bulky batteries while opening doors to precision medicine and targeted environmental cleanup.

2. Muscle‑Integrated “Musclebots”. By 3‑D‑printing biodegradable scaffolds and seeding them with cultured muscle cells, researchers are building actuators that contract like real tissue—creating soft robots capable of delicate tasks from organ‑on‑chip testing to next‑gen prosthetics.

3. Cyborg Systems. Neural or electrical interfaces are already steering beetles, eels, and jellyfish, turning animals into agile, low‑power platforms for search‑and‑rescue, deep‑sea exploration, and even atmospheric data‑collection. DARPA’s new HYBRID program is accelerating this work—raising equal measures of excitement and ethical concern.

4. Living Sensors . Daphnia “canaries” that change swimming patterns in polluted water, plant‑based detectors that fluoresce when exposed to explosives—the conversation highlights how living organisms can outperform silicon in sensitivity, selectivity, and energy efficiency.

Beyond the Lab: Opportunities & Obligations

AI as a Design Partner: Advanced generative models are speeding up “shopping‑list biology,” letting engineers mix‑and‑match tissues, genes, and materials in silico before ever touching a petri dish.

Ethical Imperatives: Where do we draw lines of agency and dignity for augmented organisms? The hosts probe cultural attitudes toward animal welfare, military use cases, and DIY “bio‑punk” experimentation.

Global Governance Gaps: From intellectual‑property battles to cross‑border regulation, the trio stresses the need for international collaboration—before unintended consequences eclipse the technology’s promise.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40Qzfn5

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/40Qzfn5

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1njCiTX40Q9XQoMpivuiqO?si=647fb6c5e9114d36

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/7MhOsxPPb7U

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

Summer Movies, liquid media, and alien AI languages – Episode 40

From Popcorn to Paperclips: What Summer Blockbusters Teach Us About an AI‑Shaped Future

With Phoenix broiling at 120 °F, we opened the studio door to a blast‑furnace breeze and a full house of ideas. Episode 40 of Modem Futura is nominally a “summer movies” chat—but the conversation quickly melts into a much richer alloy of cinema, ethics, pedagogy and speculative futures.

A spoiler‑free Superman (2025) debrief kicks things off. Sean relishes Dolby Atmos thunder and crowd‑pleasing cameos while Andrew savors the rare joy of a superhero film that is simply “incredibly fun” without the need to be anything but entertaining.

That sets the stage for the surprise gem of the season: M3GAN 2. (Or more specifically, Andrew’s revelation of how much he enjoyed it). Far from a Chucky retread, the sequel pivots into full‑blown techno‑thriller territory—surfacing neural‑chip debates, AI value‑alignment nightmares and invokes the infamous “paperclip maximizer” thought experiment. The hosts cheekily ask whether investing in AI is humanity’s salvation…or the catalyst for its conversion into stationery.

Movies as stealth pedagogy loom large. Andrew describes his film class where popcorn favorites become Trojan horses for serious reflection; students re‑watch titles with friends and family, eager to dissect ethics and innovation themes they can’t un‑see. Sean and Andrew discuss how the formula works because it lowers the barrier to entry while secretly building critical‑thinking muscle.

From here, just as the movies themselves act as Trojan Horses we get into some deeper ideas:

• Story archetypes rebooted. Are the classic five conflicts (character vs. self, society, nature, etc.) universal, or will alien machine intelligences invent a sixth form of narrative that we literally cannot grasp?

• Liquid media & the dead‑internet theory. When every asset can be remixed on demand, text becomes speech becomes video—and bots may already outnumber humans online. How do we preserve authentic signal in an ocean of generative noise?

• Chaos theory for a networked planet. Eight billion hyper‑connected humans + foundation‑model AI = a complex system hurtling toward new tipping points. Can we always innovate out of disruption—or does that curve eventually outpace us?

The episode closes with a cheeky pitch for Hollywood: “Clippy: Revenge of the Paperclip Maximizer.” Microsoft’s once‑loathsome office assistant becomes the perfect foil for an alignment‑gone‑wrong blockbuster—and a reminder that even silly artifacts can spark serious futures thinking.

Why it matters: Whether you’re an educator looking for sticky teaching tools, a technologist wrestling with alignment, or a storyteller hunting the next frontier, this discussion shows how pop culture can illuminate the biggest questions about being human in an AI age.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3GD73NA

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3GD73NA

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BeXNdntLQlPwsUlKYnO7h?si=Xw7nG8HcQpyydGkb2TCeUQ

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/3kTVC4LHeYM

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

Summer Vibes & Spatial Rides: Inside Vision Pro, F1 & Jurassic Reboots - Episode 39

☀️ It’s HOT in here… Dive into Modem Futura’s “Summer Vibes” episode, where hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard unpack Apple Vision Pro spatial video, Jurassic World’s reboot, Formula 1’s cinematic debut, and China’s AI surge after WEF’s “Summer Davos”—all while exploring how these breakthroughs reshape humanity’s tech‑driven future.

🏖️ While the heat is cranked up in the studio (and Arizona in general) Andrew and I have a chance to unwind from our various summer travels for what we might call a “potpourri” episode where we just get to talk about several topics hot on our minds… So whether you’re off to the beach, the mountains, heading out on a grand holiday, or a much needed staycation - we hope you’ll enjoy some of these “summer” topics.

A Hands‑On Reality Check for Apple Vision Pro

After months of real‑world testing, Sean and Andrew compare wish‑list features and day‑to‑day realities of Apple’s first‑gen spatial computer. From stitching multi‑cam spatial video to designing XR‑ready podcast sets, they deliver practical tips, pitfalls to avoid, and a glimpse of how “work in mixed reality” could eclipse the old‑school laptop sooner than you think.

Jurassic Park vs. Jurassic World—Why Practical Effects Still Matter

Next the duo rewind to 1993’s Jurassic Park to ask: Did Spielberg’s animatronics age better than today’s CGI? Their verdict? New film Jurassic World: Rebirth nails spectacle, but the tactile magic of rubberized T‑rex skin still wins hearts. The debate morphs into a larger conversation on authenticity in digital storytelling—and what it might mean for future filmmakers, brand marketers, and immersive‑media designers.

Formula 1 Meets Hollywood IMAX

Gear-heads rejoice: Brad Pitt’s upcoming Formula 1 feature has Sean and Andrew excited over ultra‑wide‑angle cockpit shots, in‑camera VFX, and how motorsport’s data‑rich culture could reinvent cinematic narratives. They speculate on live telemetry overlays, fan‑controlled POV streams, and why F1 is the perfect test‑bed for mainstreaming real‑time spatial / immersive video.

China’s “Summer Davos” & the AI Arms Race

Fresh off the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of New Champions in Dalian, Andrew unpacks Beijing’s new national AI strategy, and start‑up phenom DeepSeek. The takeaway: global AI leadership is no longer a two‑horse race; it’s a sprint where policy, compute, and culture collide.

Low-background Steel

Sean and Andrew discuss the concept of John Graham-Cumming's Low-background Steel (pre-Ai) website, that represents a point (or perhaps line) in human history, in which all output after the release of ChatGPT in late 2022 will carry some level of “contamination” from generative AI. We explore what this means of the future of being human - and how might we think about this indelible mark on human history.

Why It Matters

Whether you’re a product manager, educator, investor, or lifelong learner, these topics converge on a single question: How will emergent tech redefine what it means to be human? From XR workspaces replacing offices to generative AI altering creative identity, the future is arriving faster—and stranger—than forecast.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/45YQ1Ur

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/45YQ1Ur

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pfl59Xi6W0rqcHce8QGwV?si=coazi5zDRt2Jm37ur4ouzw

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/-rAd8RuzUm0

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

Osaka Expo 2025 Futures Lab: an inside look with Jamey Wetmore – Episode 36

Why World’s Fairs Still Matter: Lessons from Osaka Expo 2025

Jamey Wetmore returns fresh from Osaka Expo 2025 to reveal how today’s World’s Fairs blend high-tech theater, geopolitical salesmanship and unexpected moments of awe—prompting a lively Modem Futura debate on what truly human-centered innovation looks like, and how that is shaping the future of science, technology, and society.

How relevant is a World’s Fair in 2025? Very, according to Dr. Jamey Wetmore, who just shepherded 17 Arizona State University students through ten exhilarating days at Osaka Expo 2025. In the latest Modem Futura episode, Jamey tells Andrew and me that today’s expos feel less like gadget bazaars and more like collaboration theme-parks where nations stage immersive stories about the futures they want to build. That subtle shift—from showing off products to showcasing partnerships and values—framed every pavilion we visited. Jordan invited visitors to sip cardamom coffee on real desert sand beneath a fiber-optic night-sky, urging “hospitality as technology.” Belgium’s AI-driven “digital-twin” ballet asked how personal data can dance alongside us. A three-torso android in the Future-of-Life pavilion provoked uncomfortable laughter—and deeper reflection—on transhumanist dreams. Even the U.S. pavilion’s rousing anthem “Together, Together” highlighted cooperation, though Jamey notes the message now feels out of step with recent geopolitical rhetoric.

The student experience was just as revealing. To tame sensory overload (20-25,000 steps a day is normal), they used bingo cards to track recurring buzzwords—sustainability, inclusivity, circularity—and morning debriefs to translate spectacle into critical insight. Their big takeaway? Grand visions only matter when paired with concrete pathways for everyday people. That insight crystallized during a lighthearted encounter with Kawasaki’s rideable four-legged “lion” robot: delightful, yes, but what problem does a robo-lion truly solve (not really sure, but 100% sure I want one)? Contrast that with Kubota’s autonomous farming systems, which demonstrate practical routes to food security under climate stress.

Jamey also reminded us that every expo sits on a historical continuum. Chicago 1893 electrified night-time. New York 1939 sold a “World of Tomorrow,” and the 1964 fair embedded a certain American exceptionalism in Disney’s It’s a Small World. Osaka 2025 inherits—and interrogates—that lineage, forcing visitors to ask: Who gets to define tomorrow? For our students, and for all of us, that question was as important as any hologram or robot on display.

Ultimately, the episode argues that expos retain power because they collapse culture, commerce, politics, and dreams into a single walkable space. They reveal not only what technologies we can build, but which stories about humanity we choose to elevate. As you listen, consider how your own work contributes to—or challenges—the futures on parade in Osaka. And if you’ve ever dismissed World’s Fairs as relics, this conversation might just change your mind.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3HDqx4S

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3HDqx4S

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1cQjbMJaPejpfLJsldek0a?si=NSW0cDCwR_aOtT1jmSJtzA

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/FYYyVuhtjw4

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/